Visas

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Jones on 11 January (WA 438) and Lord Sassoon on 24 January (WA 116), whether travelling expenses and associated subsistence and accommodation payments related to working in the United Kingdom for less than 12 months under Section 338 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (a) will count towards the UK Border Agency's minimum salary for tier 2 intra-company transfers (ICTs) visas, (b) will count towards the national minimum wage, and (c) can make up over 70 per cent of the salary for such Tier 2 ICTs provided the accommodation component does not exceed 30 per cent.

When considering earnings towards the minimum salary requirement for tier 2 (intra-company transfer) applications, the UK Border Agency will take account of basic pay excluding overtime and cost of living allowances, but not expenses such as those to cover travel between the source country and the United Kingdom.

Cost of living allowances may make up over 70 per cent of the total salary package that will be considered for tier 2 (intra-company transfer) applications, provided allowances for accommodation, whether in cash or kind, do not exceed 30 per cent (or 40 per cent in the case of short-term transfers of 12 months or less).

Sponsors of tier 2 migrants, like all UK employers, must fully comply with national minimum wage legislation and expenses and allowances, other than accommodation allowances up to a specified level, will not normally count towards salary for this purpose.